Safety gate



April 30, 1929.

C. M. NEELD SAFETY GATE Filed Jan. 3, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet C. M. NEELD Aril 30, 1929.

SAFETY GATE Filed Jan. 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 30, 1929.

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PATENT oFFIC CHARLES M. nnnnn, or rrr'rsnnnen, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY GATE.

.Application filed January 3, 1928. SerialNo. 244 210.

. -My invention relates to safety gates, and more particularly to thoseemployed as barriers to traflic at railroad crossings, draw bridges,elevators, etc., EtHClWhQIGVQI motor or other vehicles travel.

Gates of the type referred toare commonly in the form of bars which arepivotally mounted at the edges of the roadway and movable from uprightto horizontal position. across the roadway, for the purpose of stoppinghighway trafilc while arailway train is passing or the draw of a bridgeis open. It sometimes happens thatan automobile driver will carelesslyor accidentally drive against the gates when they are in loweredposition and 1 break through them, with theresult that the gates arebroken and with frequent loss of life.

My invention has for one of its objects the provision of strengthemngand reinforcing means which Wlll prevent vehicle from being driven pastthenormal position of the gates a sufiicient distance to enter a dangerzone. 1

Another object ofmyinvention isto provide an improved yieldable barrierfor highways and the like which will retard the movement readily appliedto various standard types of gates of the general character referredto,.

without substantial alteration of the struc ture of such gates orinterference with the normal operation thereof.

Still another object of my invention is to simplify and improvegenerally the structure and operation of safety devices of the characterreferred to.

For convenience of description, 1 hereinafter describe my invention asemployed in connection with safety gates 'for draw bridges, but it willbe understood that the invention is also applicable to gates or barriersof various other types.

One form which my invention may take is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein Figure 1 is an elevational' view of the apparatus inoperative position; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3-is a viewtaken on the line III-III of Fig. 2, but on an enlarged scale, andpartially in section; Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of theapparatus of Fig. 3, and'F 5 is an enlarged view taken on the line V Vof Fig. 2.

The gate is shown as composed of bars or barrier armsG and 7 which arepivotally mounted upon pillars 8 and 9, respectively, formovementthrough a vertical plane toa horizontal position, by means of motors 10each-of which, through suitable gearing, imparts oscillatory movementsto a segmental gear 12 that carries acrank towhich a link 13 isconnected. The link 13 operates through a crank 145 that is connectedto'a shaft 15 which carries one of the barrier members.

I The parts just referred to may be of any various well-known types, andneed not be herein described 1n detail.

A book 16 is pivotally mounted upon the bar 6 and is normally held inraised position by a spring 17, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. .3. Abolt 18 extends through the ends.

of the plates forming the barrier bar 7, and serves as a catch for thehook 16- when the bars 6 and 7 are in lowered position. 1

A cable '19 or other flexible member, such as a chain, is connected to ayoke 20 through whose ends the bolt18 extends. The inner end of thecable 19 is connected to a yoke 21 that extends through an I-beam-22,which 1 serves as a sill for bridge flooring The yoke 21 carries a plate24 which serves as a seat for compression springs 25. A rod 26 isconnected to the plate 24 and extencs through a second I-beam 27. Therod members 21 and 26 are threaded at their rear ends and provided withnuts which may be. ad- I justed to effect desired compression of thesprings. A cable 31 is-connected at its outer end to the hook 16 and atits inner end is connected to springs 32 and 33, in the manner justdescribed in connection with discussion of the'cable 19, and as shown inFig. 5 of the drawing.

It will be seen that when the bars 6 and 7 are lowered and their hooksare in engagement as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a vehicle driven againstthem in the direction indicated by the arrow A of Fig. 2 will tend todeflect the bars forwardly and place the 011- bles 19 and 31 undertension. The springs 2529 and 3233 will thereupon be brought into actionto yieldably resist further movehicle. In order to avoid damage to thetransmission mechanism which raises and lowers the bars, throughdeflection ot' the outerends by providing them with studs 8 that haverotative movement in foundation members 35.

The cables 19 and 31, when slackened, areheld in proximityto the bars 7and 6 by means of springs 36, so that they will not lie upon the roadwayand obstruct trattic when slackened. When the cables are placed undertension, the springs 36 will of course yield, allowing the directions ofpull to approach approximately straight lines as between the rods 21 andthe hooked connection ot the cables at any point in the roadway, or atthe side of the roadway.

As a safety feature, to prevent recoil of the cables when they have beenplaced under severe tension through the i'nonientum oi vehicle, Iprovide dogs 37 that permit withdrawal movement of the rods 21 but whichbind against such rods to prevent backward movement thereof when theforce that is imposed at the outer ends of the cables has been spent.Springs 38 (Fig. 5) serve to insure gripping movement by the dogs 37upon slight rearward movement oi the rods 21. The dogs 37 are providedwith handle-like extensions that may be manually-operated to release therods 21 and permit the compression springs to return the cables toretracted position.

In order to insure automatic hooking engagement at the'outer ends of thecable, the operating mechanisms for the gates 6 and 7 may be so timedthat the gate 7 will reach its operative or lowered position slightly inadvance of the arrival of gate 6, at its operative position, so that thehook 16 will engage the catch bolt 1.8. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3,means are provided for positively moving the hook 16- intocatch-engaging position, such means comprising a pull rod or cable 39whose outer end .isconnected to a boltpiece on. the hook 16- and whoseinner end. is connected to one arm of a bell crank 40, that is pivotallymounted in the'pillar 8. The other arm of the bell crank is engaged bythe crank 14 when such crank approaches its lowermost position inlowering the bar 6 so that the hookl6 will be rocked from the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 to the position showniin full linestherein.

l Vhen the bars 6 and .7 are raised, the spring 17 will return the latch16 to raised position.

t Will'be understood that the invention may be employed in combinationwith vari ous other types of gates than those above referred to and thatthe cables and various of their associated parts may be employed simplyas yieldable barriers independently of gates of any kind.

1 claim as my invention 1. The combination with a pair of gate bars thatare movable to operative position :trom opposite sides o1 a roadway, ofa yield able barrier member associated with each of said bars, means foreffecting interlocking connection between said barrier members uponmovement of the bars to operative position, and means for preventingrecoil of such. barrier members after deflection thereof.

2. The combination with a gate bar mov able into operative positionacross a road way, of a yieldable barrier member having connection withsaid bar, and means for preventing recoil ofsaid barrier member atterdeflection thereof.

3. Barrier structure. comprising a pair of impact-receiving members eacho't which isv yieldably anchored at its outer end, means for effectinginterlocking engagement between the inner ends of said members uponmovement thereof to operative position, and means for preventing recoilof said members after deflection of the inner ends thereof.

In testimony whereof I, the said CHAnLns M. Nnnnn, have hereunto set myhand.

CHARLES M. NEELDF

